Maryland lawmaker: Officials misled on ransomware attack

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A leading Maryland lawmaker says top legislators were misled about a cyberattack on the state health department.

Sen. Paul Pinsky criticized Maryland Chief Information Security Officer Chip Stewart during a hearing on Thursday. Pinsky says Stewart failed to inform House Speaker Adrienne Jones, Senate President Bill Ferguson and him during a briefing on Dec. 22 about the seriousness of the Dec. 4 attack. He says Stewart only called it “an incident” and neglected to say it was a ransomware attack, even though he knew it was at the time.

Stewart says officials kept details “close to the chest” because of a criminal investigation.

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